We are Heading to Africa! Neutral Colors, Rule-Following and a Dreaded 44 Pound Luggage Limit!

 In less than a week, Bob and I, along with our traveling partners, Mark and Judy, are headed for a safari in Africa.  The visit will begin with four days in Capetown, South Africa, and then proceed to several game reserves within South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.  We are told that we will see all of the animals who play starring roles on the National Geographic Channel, while traveling each countries’ rugged terrain in an open-air jeep. Needless to say, my Sea Bands are packed.  

I have never written a travel blog a week before our departure, but the preparation for this trip has been like none Judy and I have ever experienced.  The “Hakuna Matata” Brothers, however, Bob and Mark have been less worried, but neither of them are writing the blog.  Suffice it to say that the multiple shots for Typhoid, Hepatitis, COVID boosters and the flu, along with one cortisone shot in my knee were less painful than packing for this trip. Judy and I are both thankful that we each have an extra bedroom in our homes and that no one has come to visit us in the last three weeks, because that’s where and when we began laying out what we need for this adventure. 

The problem all stems around the number 44, the maximum weight in pounds that we can take with us, which includes both luggage and backpacks. Plus, the exterior of the luggage can only be soft, like a duffel bag and can only be certain dimensions, all of them small numbers. The reason for requiring such small bags is because we will be taking several “puddle  jumpers” or what can only be described as crop planes (I can’t even think about these flights without abject terror creeping into my mind) in between game reserves. This is no weekend junket, we are going for two weeks and the luggage size maximum has Judy and I in a near tizzy.  

The first question to answer was, “roller bag v. standard duffel bag?”  Mark, bless him, researched which bags would meet the certain dimension criteria for both roller bags v. duffel.  Judy went with the roller bag but Bob and I chose the plain duffel as the rollers could add up to five pounds on to our allotted weight maximum.  I decided that it was better to add a few extra tee shirts and pants for the trip and just factor in a return visit to the doctor when we return to the US, so that I can receive yet another cortisone shot—but this time for my shoulder, which I am sure will need it after carrying about a 35 pound bag on my shoulder on-and-off for two weeks.  

The next big issue was deciding which clothes to bring.  The tour group, Alluring Africa, provided a complete list of gear, including links to those items, should your home closet shy away from such ensembles that include safari shirts or hiking pants that quickly become shorts thanks to zippers in the pant legs.  The list was quite comprehensive but its common theme was that all clothing items should be neutral colors.  As I am a consummate rule follower, this has me a nervous wreck and every day, I look at the piles on the bed in the extra bedroom and think, “Do I have enough beige?” I am bringing a blue LL Bean pullover and a black zipper-up sweatshirt (It’s currently the end of winter in Africa and the early morning and evenings are very cold) and Judy, a fellow rule-follower, is obsessing about the orange LL Bean sweater she has packed. As we will be traveling in an open vehicle, Judy and I are of course, worrying that our lack of color rule-following will attract the wildlife a little too closely and consider us both an attractive snack. I do think however, that they might go after Bob first because except for two pair of khaki zipper pants, he has taken a “devil may care” approach to his color choices—most of which are a far cry from neutral. 

Besides warding off diseases by obtaining multiple shots before our departure and taking malaria pills upon our arrival, all our safari clothes have had to be sprayed to combat mosquitoes and ticks that may be carrying malaria.  The spray that we were told to use can only be described as something slightly less powerful than napalm. After reading the scary directions, I immediately thought that along with not having any safari-ware in my closet, I also didn’t own a hazmat suit. Armed with thick gloves and a face mask (THAT I had) I proceeded to first hang all our gear on our backyard trees (oh, how I miss my mother’s old clothesline) placed a tarp beneath them all and began to spray.  After completing this task without asphyxiating myself, I then looked around to see if any of our neighbors were watching as they would have likely questioned my sanity. I forgot to spray our shoes and now, a new pullover (olive green, of course) that I just bought at Costco yesterday, so the whole spraying process will begin again on our next sunny day.  

There are several other anxiety-issues to overcome, including whether each countries’ border security will wonder whether or not the four of us are a fledgling drug cartel due to all the medications/vitamins we will have as part of our 44 pounds, needed to keep us standing and moving forward.  Keep your fingers crossed.